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Lifetime Prevalence and Comorbidity of Mental Disorders in the Two-wave 2002-2018 Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey
A 2002 study on the mental health of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members found high levels of mental health disorders among the group. In 2018, a follow-up survey of the same group (some of whom had since left the military) was done to better understand their mental health over time.
What is this Research About?
This research examines the mental health of CAF members and Veterans over a 16-year period to determine if there have been any changes in the number and type of disorders reported.
What did the Researchers Do?
Approximately 3,000 Regular Force personnel (both serving and Veterans) completed the 2018 follow-up survey. The researchers analyzed this data to see how many had a mental health condition within the last year and/or at any point in their lives. The researchers also looked at “comorbidity” which is when someone has 2 or more conditions at the same time. They also compared this information to the data collected in 2002.
What did the Researchers Find?
There continues to be a high rate of mental health disorders among CAF members and Veterans, the numbers of which grew substantially during the 16-year gap between the two surveys.
In 2002, 11.8 % of survey participants reported having a mental health disorder within the last year. This rose to 27.6% in the 2018 follow-up survey. Past-year alcohol dependence was the only condition that had a decrease (3.8% in 2002 and 2.3% in 2018).
In 2018, 54% reported having at least one mental health disorder at some point in their lives – up from 27% in 2002.
| Had in Past Year | Had during Lifetime | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2018 | 2002 | 2018 | |
| Major Depressive Episode | 7.6% | 19.5% | 16.5% | 40% |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder | 2.9% | 9.9% | 7% | 22% |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder | 1.9% | 7.3% | 4.8% | 18.3% |
| Panic disorder | 1.8% | 11% | 3.6% | 19% |
| Panic disorder | 3.3% | 13.6% | 8.3% | 25.8% |
There was also an increase in those who reported having multiple mental disorders at the same time (22% in 2018 vs 3% in 2002)
While more research is needed to examine causes and predicting factors, the higher rates of mental health conditions reported in 2018 may be related to the increase in deployments in recent years; better recall by survey participants; and/or the buildup of mental health issues over time.
Source
Sareen J, Bolton S-L, Mota N, et al. Lifetime Prevalence and Comorbidity of Mental Disorders in the Two-wave 2002–2018 Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey (CAFVMHS). The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. March 2021.